Iraq Economic News and Points To Ponder Wednesday Morning 10-7-26
Iraq’s 2027 Budget Draft Sets 217T Dinar Spending
2026-10-06 / 05:08 Shafaq News- Baghdad Iraq’s draft 2027 federal budget totals 217 trillion dinars ($164.9B), with a projected deficit of 50 trillion dinars ($38B), parliamentary Finance Committee member Abbas Hayal told Shafaq News on Tuesday.
Hayal said the figures were discussed during the committee’s meeting with Finance Minister Faleh Al-Sari on the draft budget, which sets oil at $58 per barrel, assumes exports of four million barrels per day, and sets the exchange rate at 1,500 dinars per US dollar.
The proposal also provides for moving contract and daily-wage workers onto permanent payrolls and creating 100,000 contract positions, half of them allocated to ministries and security institutions.
The 100,000 contract positions are expected to be distributed among Iraq’s provinces according to population, with many earmarked for graduates from earlier cohorts who have remained without public-sector employment.
In a statement, the Finance Committee said the meeting also addressed the distribution of spending between line-item and program- and performance-based budgeting, alongside efforts to diversify state revenues, reduce reliance on oil and contain the deficit.
The meeting followed criticism from the Finance Committee that the Finance Ministry had prepared and advanced the draft without sufficient consultation with parliament.
In September, Iraq’s Ministerial Council for the Economy approved the draft 2027 federal budget and referred it to the Council of Ministers. Under Iraq’s Finance Administration Law, the draft is due to be submitted to parliament by October 15.
Iraq had adopted a three-year budget covering 2023–2025 under former Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, but parliament did not approve the 2025 spending schedules before the fiscal year ended, and no federal budget law was passed for 2026.
Read more: $45B deficit looms over Iraq’s draft 2027 budget
https://www.shafaq.com/en/Economy/Iraq-s-2027-budget-draft-sets-217T-dinar-spending
"Is The Government Paying For The Deficit From The Citizen's Pocket?"... Ziad Al-Hashemi: Devaluing The Dinar Postpones Reform And Does Not Address Inflation And Waste
Baghdad - One News - 10/06/2026 Economic expert Ziad Al-Hashemi warned of the repercussions of resorting to changing the exchange rate of the dinar as one of the options for dealing with the financial pressures reflected in the 2027 draft budget, considering that reducing the value of the currency, if adopted, would burden citizens with part of the cost of the financial imbalances instead of addressing their root causes.
Al-Hashemi said in a post published on his account on the “X” platform that the details of the proposed budget and the accompanying talk about the exchange rate indicate, according to his reading, that the government is facing an “uncomfortable” financial situation, given the continued high levels of spending and waste compared to fluctuating revenues.
He added that relying on oil revenues and continuing to borrow is no longer sufficient to cover the large and increasing public spending, considering that resorting to changing the exchange rate, if approved, would be an option to “buy time” and delay financial reform, which requires stricter measures to address the structure of spending and waste.
Al-Hashemi believed that reducing the value of the dinar was the easiest option compared to financial reform measures, but it shifts part of the cost of the crisis to the public, instead of addressing the causes of the imbalance in public finance management.
Regarding the employment file, he pointed out that the talk about providing 150,000 new jobs within the proposed budget, if true, means adding new burdens to the payroll and increasing what he described as the “job overabundance” in state institutions.
He considered that expanding employment could be acceptable if actual employees replaced “ghost employees” after auditing this file, which, according to his vision, would allow for reducing waste and corruption and providing real job opportunities without an unjustified increase in the cost of salaries.
Al-Hashemi criticized what he described as the continued mistakes of previous budgets and governments, including inflated current spending, continued waste, weak investment spending, and the absence of maximizing the "product" of non-oil revenues, along with "limited implementation of the 'program and performance plan' ".
He concluded that addressing the financial pressures requires reform that goes beyond changing the exchange rate or continuing to borrow, towards restructuring spending, reducing waste, and boosting non-oil revenues, instead of burdening citizens with part of the cost of the financial imbalance. https://1news-iq.net/هل-تدفع-الحكومة-ثمن-العجز-من-جيب-الموا/
Economic Warning Regarding Mps' Statements: They Will Increase Market And Dollar Instability In Iraq
Shafaq News - Baghdad Economic expert Abdul Rahman Al-Mashhadani predicted on Tuesday that the exchange rate of the dollar in the parallel market may exceed the 160,000 dinar mark per 100 dollars, given the continued high demand for foreign currency and conflicting statements regarding monetary policy and the exchange rate.
Al-Mashhadani explained in an interview with Shafaq News Agency that it is not surprising that the dollar exceeded the 160,000 mark, at a time when a member of the Finance Committee is stating that the exchange rate is fixed at 150,000 dinars, while another member is talking about changing the currency, and another about removing zeros, which are files that are not within the jurisdiction of the members of parliament.
He added that continuing such statements does not serve market stability, but rather increases uncertainty among citizens and those dealing in dollars, noting that the market is quickly affected by any talk related to the exchange rate or currency.
Al-Mashhadani continued, saying that the demand for the dollar remains high, especially from travelers and traders who do not want to import through the ASYCUDA system, which keeps the demand for foreign currency in place and puts additional pressure on the exchange rate in the parallel market.
MP: Restoring Autonomy Opens The Door To Demands For Compensation From Washington
Information/Special...MP Ahmed al-Moussawi affirmed on Tuesday that Iraq's full restoration of its economic, security, and political autonomy will pave the way for demanding reparations from the United States for the war, occupation, and the resulting damage inflicted on the country.
Speaking to Al-Maalouma, al-Moussawi stated, “Iraq’s restoration of its economic, security, and political autonomy will allow it to raise the issue of demanding reparations from the United States for the aggression against and occupation of Iraq,” clarifying that “this issue is contingent upon possessing an independent national decision.”
He added that "the war waged by Washington against Iraq resulted in the death and injury of thousands of Iraqis, in addition to the damage inflicted on infrastructure, the destruction of numerous state institutions and facilities, and the theft of a number of Iraqi properties and assets."
Al-Moussawi indicated that "making an official decision to demand reparations from Washington will not be easy," noting that "the matter requires a national decision and political courage from all political forces."
He pointed out that "the differing positions of the political forces, whether Sunni, Kurdish, or Christian, compared to the positions of the Shiite blocs regarding this issue may hinder progress in demanding compensation," stressing that "resolving it requires broad national consensus and a clear sovereign decision." (End of quote 25)